Joe Thomas: Johnny Manziel is ‘night and day from last year’

The Cleveland Browns signed veteran quarterback Josh McCown this offseason and have not ruled out selecting a quarterback early in the draft, so where does that leave Johnny Manziel?

If you believe Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas, Manziel might have a legitimate chance of winning the starting job in training camp.

“The way he is now is night and day from last year,” Thomas told NFL Media’s Andrea Kremer on Tuesday. “He has a bright future ahead of him.”

A report from earlier this month said the Browns have almost completely moved on from Manziel. They also reportedly spoke with the Washington Redskins about moving up in the first round of the draft, and they are said to be interested in Marcus Mariota.

None of that can be good news for Manziel, but Thomas insists Johnny Football has come a long way from the Vegas party boy he was last year. Thomas said Manziel spends his weekends studying the playbook and film rather than “riding a swan in a swimming pool drinking champagne.”

“It’s apparent he’s realized how important football is to him,” he said. “He’s realized you can’t get away with those things anymore. As one of the leaders, it’ll be my job to talk to him sometimes, (but) he’s already impressed a lot of people here now in the last couple of weeks.”

The one thing Manziel has going for him is that expectations seem lower than ever. Browns cornerback Joe Haden made similar comments about Manziel’s improvement last week, so Thomas isn’t the only one rallying behind him. We don’t know what happened to Manziel during his lengthy stay in rehab, but maybe it was good for the former Heisman Trophy winner. His sophomore season can’t be any more disappointing than his rookie season was.

H/T Sporting News